Li: Hello and welcome to The English We Speak from BBC Learning English. I’m Yang Li. I am waiting for Jen to arrive in the studio, but she’s outside and she’s in a really bad mood, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to teach you some weather idioms. What do you think? Jen’s looking really angry. Have a listen…

Jen: (Screaming and shouting)

Li: She has a face like thunder. If you have a face like thunder, it means that you are very angry indeed. And Jen definitely seems angry!

Jen: (In the background) It’s so unfair. When things go wrong for me, they always go badly wrong. It never rains but it pours!

Li: There’s another weather idiom. Did you hear it? Jen said “it never rains but it pours.” That’s something that people say when they think they have very big problems. I wonder what Jen’s problem is? Oh, here she comes!

Jen: Hi Li. Sorry I’m late. I’m so upset. The boss said that I would get a promotion if I finished all of my work by midday. I finished everything by 12 o’clock and now the boss is ignoring my emails about the promotion and won’t talk to me.

Li: I think you’re just chasing rainbows, Jen. If you chase rainbows, it means you are trying to do something that will never happen.

Jen: So you don’t think I’ll get a promotion?

Li: No, I don’t think so. I think the boss was probably just trying to get you to finish your work more quickly.

Jen: He tricked me! There he is! I’m going to go and talk to him!

(Door closes)

Li: Well, that all sounds like a storm in a teacup to me. If something is described as ‘a storm in a teacup’, it means that a person is exaggerating their problems and making their problems sound worse than they actually are. Here’s Jen coming back in! (To Jen) Well? What did he say?

Jen: He said that he was pleased with my work and that we’ll talk about the promotion next week. He also said that I can have the rest of the afternoon off!

Li: You see, Jen? Every cloud has a silver lining! The idiom means that you can always find something positive, even in a bad situation.

Jen: You’re absolutely right. What do you think I should do with my free afternoon, then?

Li: Well, I’d go and sit in the park, the weather’s lovely today! Join us again for another edition of The English We Speak from BBC Learning English.